Rochester Institute of Technology RIT Scholar Works Books 2007 What is print? A Characterization of the printing industry in the United States Printing Industry Center (CIAS) Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.rit.edu/books Recommended Citation Printing Industry Center (CIAS), "What is print? A Characterization of the printing industry in the United States" (2007). Accessed from http://scholarworks.rit.edu/books/20 This Full-Length Book is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Books by an authorized administrator of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. What Is Print? A Characterization of the Printing Industry in the United States A Publication of the Printing Industry Center at RIT No. PIC-2007-A What is Print? A Characterization of the Printing Industry in the United States A Publication of the Printing Industry Center at RIT Rochester, NY August 2007 PIC-2007-A © 2007 Printing Industry Center at RIT— All rights reserved. i With Thanks The research agenda of the Printing Industry Center at RIT and the publication of research findings are supported by the following organizations: bc ii PIC-2007-A Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 Range of Products & Services ...................................................................................... 4 Measuring the Industry ................................................................................................ 6 Current State .................................................................................................................. 9 Challenges & Opportunities .....................................................................................13 Printing in 2012 ...........................................................................................................15 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................16 References ....................................................................................................................16 Appendix A: History & Technologies ......................................................................17 Appendix B: Suggested Reading ................................................................................22 What is Print? A Characterization of the Printing Industry in the United States 1 2 PIC-2007-A Introduction Introduction Print touches our lives constantly in the form of product packaging, books, newspa- pers, magazines, mail, or any of the wide variety of printed items we use every day. We consume it without even thinking about it. To treat printing as a stand-alone product, service, or process is impossible. It is a manufacturing industry in the strictest sense, but it is also a service industry. There are a number of other industries and services inter- twined with printing, such as paper manufacturing, ink manufacturing, equipment manufacturing, print finishing, graphic design, marketing, distribution, mailing, and fulfillment services. This report will briefly touch on these ancillary industries as needed, but is not an exhaustive discussion of the relationships (be they financial, historical, or physical) between all of these and the printing industry. Instead, this report is intended to be an introduction to printing and its many facets. References, an appendix on the history of the industry, and a suggested reading list have been provided for further study. You can find further information online at the Printing Industry Center’s website: print.rit.edu. What is Print? A Characterization of the Printing Industry in the United States 3 Range of Products & Services Range of Products & Services Printing as a method of production cannot be considered as a standalone process. It is linked to the other processes within the value chain of print media production. All of these processes are interdependent, and they often depend on each other to create added value and revenues, as shown in Figure 1. *These functions could be performed by in-house departments as well. Electronic This is why they are shown with dotted arrows. creative work Creative Ad agencies Studios Prepress* Finishing* Graphic designers Illustrators Photographers Businesses/Customers Commercial artists Purchasing Marketing Communications Advertising Printing Presentations Manufacturing Promotions Retail Trade Finance/Insurance Publishing Health Care Book Specialty In-house printing Periodical etc. Newspaper Directory Catalog Newsletter Miscellaneous Manufacturers & Vendors Printed by Equipment the publisher Consumables (ink, toner, paper, etc.) Figure 1. Interdependent value chain activities (Adapted from Romano, 2001.) Printed products can be viewed in the same manner. These products are often linked to other goods and/or services, and may not be viewed as innately valuable to the final consumer. Oftentimes, the products that incorporate print as a prominent feature are characterized as the product of the printing industry even though the print production itself was only one stage in the process of producing the finished product. The various classes of printed goods and some examples from each category are shown in Figures 2 and 3. 4 PIC-2007-A Range of Products & Services Documentation Forms 3% 4% Financial/Legal 5% Advertising 27% Direct Mail 5% Stationery 6% Miscellaneous 6% Books Packaging 6% 9% Directories 6% Catalog 8% Newspapers 7% Periodicals 8% Figure 2. Categories of print products (Romano, 2007) Books Promotional Office Communications Home/Office • Soft cover • Flyers • Reports • Shower Curtains • Hard cover • Brochures • Presentations • Venetian Blinds • Specialty • Booklets • Forms • Ceiling Tiles • Circulars • Other • Floor Coverings Periodicals • Ad Inserts • Magazines Stationery Manufacturing • Journals Technical Documentation • Envelopes • Components • Newsletters • Manuals • Business Cards • Wires & Cables • Reprint/Preprint • Guides • Social Stationery • 3-D Prototypes • Reply cards • Tech Bulletins • Instructions Display/Signage Decoration/Coating Catalogs • Signage • Caskets • Consumer Legal-Financial • Point-of-purchase (POP) Displays • Ceramics • Business • Annual/Quarterly Reports • Fleet Graphics • Foil/Metal • Other • Transactional Statements • Posters • Glass • Transactional Promotions • Banners/Billboards • Leather Newspapers • Legal Reports • Building/Vehicle Wraps • Daily • IPOs • Awnings Security • Weekly • Other • Nameplates • Cards • Other • Smart IDs Packaging Textiles • Passports Directories • Cans, Bottles, Caps, Lids • Apparel • White Pages • Labels, Tags • Ties, Scarves Miscellaneous • Yellow Pages • Folding Cartons • Smart Clothing • Greeting Cards • Parts/Price Lists • Flexible Packaging • Wall Coverings • Wrapping Paper • Other • Bags, Multiwall Sacks, Pouches • Upholstered Furniture • Wall Paper, Pool Liners • Corrugated Cartons • Calendars, Maps Direct Mail • Test Packaging Food/Medical • Playing Cards • Postcards • Drug Delivery • Currency, Stamps • Self Mailers Electronic • Food • Smart Media/Audio Paper • Booklets • Circuitry, Boards • Cell Printing • Flip Flops • Envelope Mail • RFID, MEMS • Binders, Notebooks • Coupons • LED/OLED Displays Imagery • Lottery Tickets • Bio-chemical Sensors • Art Reproduction • CDs/DVDs, Buttons, Balls • Membrane Switches • Photo Printing • Toys, Games, Pens/Pencils • Lenticular Imaging Figure 3. Examples of print products (Adapted from Romano, 2007) What is Print? A Characterization of the Printing Industry in the United States 5 Measuring the Industry Measuring the Industry There are many associations that produce annual and quarterly measurements of the printing industry, and this report should not be considered as definitive in regards to measuring the industry. Although many of these measures are similar, there are often variances in the results. This is generally dependent on what codes are used to define an industry segment, what types of segments are defined and measured, and how the numbers have been calculated. The printing industry is hard to measure because of the problems that arise when one tries to define a “printing company.” Today’s printers may offer a variety of services beyond putting ink on paper, ranging from website design to marketing communication campaign management. For some, revenue from these services may outweigh the reve- nue they actually obtain from print, although print may have been their core business in the past. It also becomes difficult to effectively measure the printing industry when considering other companies whom offer printing or reproduction services such as office superstores (i.e. Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot and the like). The revenues these companies obtain from the printing services they offer should still be counted within industry revenues, but it can be hard to differentiate which revenue is obtained from those services. The same is true for companies who offer ancillary services to print. The change from SIC to NAICS codes in 1997 has also had an effect on industry measurements. Throughout the 1930s, printing and publishing activities were shown together. Under NAICS, book and newspaper publishing are now shown under the Information Sector, separated from print due to the changes in publishing that have led to a division of the processes. Additionally, publishing